Dark Wolf (Spirit Wild) - By Kate Douglas Page 0,6
was glued to Lily. With a soft curse, she asked a couple of brief questions and then ended the call. “That was the chief of police. I’m needed back at City Hall.” She stood up. “I’m sorry, Lily. I’ll do what I can.”
“I know. Thank you. Go ahead. I’ll get lunch.”
Jill was reaching for her handbag. “That’s not . . .”
“Go. Call me later.”
“I will.” She slipped the strap to her purse over her shoulder and gave Lily a quick hug. “Later. And thank you.”
Lily watched her walk away. A pleasant-looking woman in her early fifties, Jill Bradley looked like someone’s mom, not like the head of one of the nation’s largest, most diverse cities.
She walked as if she didn’t have a care in the world, passing through the throng of reporters with a quick smile and a friendly greeting to the ones she knew.
Lily wished she had that kind of grace under fire. She handed her card to the waitress, signed the tab when it came after adding a sizeable tip for that perfectly prepared, almost raw burger, and walked toward the back of the restaurant.
There was no way she was going to try and get through the reporters. Nope. She’d take the coward’s exit, through the kitchen and out the back.
And the first thing she’d do when she got back to the office was call Alex. The last murder had been in Montana, but this latest had happened barely a mile from her office.
She wondered where Sebastian Xenakis had been last night.
2
“Anything newsworthy?”
Sebastian glanced away from the big bay window with its unobstructed view of the sun slipping into the Pacific Ocean, something he found more attractive than anything that could possibly fill the media screen this time of day. “I have no idea. I’ve not been paying attention.”
His father paused in front of the screen, raised the volume, and then spoke over it. “Maybe you should, son of mine. I don’t understand your lack of interest in events shaping the world. How do you expect to help shape those events if you’re not even aware, if you don’t care, what’s important?”
Sebastian merely shrugged. “I have no interest in shaping events. I’ll leave that to men like you.”
“That’s the coward’s way. No son of mine—”
Sebastian smiled as he interrupted. “Wants to compete with his father. You’re obviously good at what you do, Father. There’s no need for me to fight your battles. You do quite well on your own.”
His father stared at him a moment, and Sebastian wished he could read the man’s mind. He couldn’t even read his aura, something that came naturally to him with most people. The man remained a mystery. Sometimes he wondered if the elder Xenakis wanted to send him away, if he’d rather not claim a son who was so unlike himself. Other times, Sebastian was certain his father was proud of his accomplishments, even a bit impressed by his magical abilities.
The shapeshifting had certainly gotten the old man’s attention. When he’d demonstrated his ability, Sebastian’s shift from man to wolf had left Aldo Xenakis speechless. Of course, with his father’s avid hatred of Chanku shapeshifters, Sebastian possibly could have chosen a creature other than a wolf—one more politically correct—but that was the one that came easiest to him.
He had not wanted to risk failure, and he hadn’t. In fact, he’d grown so comfortable now with the shift that it took less energy every time, but he really should work on some new creatures. He’d watched the Chanku on the neighboring property. Hiding high on the mountain on his father’s land, he’d used a powerful telescope to study them as they went about their daily lives.
Even the children could shift. Fascinated, he’d watched the little ones take the shapes of various creatures, of birds and lions and leopards, always under their parents—or at least an adult’s—watchful eye. And always creatures of prey, whether it be hawk or cougar, wolf, or even, on at least one occasion, a snake.
He’d not ventured beyond the wolf. His greatest fear was finding a shape and getting caught in it, but eventually he was certain his skill would allow shifts of all kinds.
“What do you know of this?”
Sebastian glanced at the digital tablet his father shoved in front of him. The evening news was updating—he read the headlines. Another body had been found, another young woman raped and murdered. Raped by a man, yet murdered by a beast. Or beasts.